Padikkal’s batting, Suthar’s spin boost India after Sri Lanka series

Devdutt Padikkal’s assured batting at No. 3 and Manav Suthar’s impressive adaptation to conditions emerged as major positives for India from their 1-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka, while Dhruv Jurel also strengthened the team’s middle-order options

Colombo: India arrived in Sri Lanka three weeks ago with several questions surrounding its Test team but Devdutt Padikkal’s assured batting at number three is the biggest gain, while Manav Suthar has made a strong case to take over the baton from Ravindra Jadeja as the team’s lead Test spinner for the next decade.

The management may also be delighted to see the efforts of batters, who copped fair bit of flak for their inability to tackle spin against New Zealand and South Africa at home, against Sri Lankan tweakers.

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Padikkal was at the forefront of India’s charge against spinners.

The Sri Lankan batters resorted to sweep and its varieties to nullify Indian spinners in the series, but Padikkal used a different method — astute back foot play and precise foot-work.

His early coach Mohammed Naseeruddin threw light into the Karnataka batter’s approach.

“We were working in that area before the series. If you stay in the crease then it is tough to play against spinners. So, we were training to get as close to the ball as possible, or come out and drive,” Naseeruddin told PTI.

That diligence brought the desired result in the two-match series as Padikkal was adjudged player of the series for his 328 runs across three innings at an average of 109.33. It included two hundreds as well.

It seems that Padikkal has now put to bed the question on the best choice for the No. 3 slot for the foreseeable future, even when B Sai Sudharsan returns from his injury.

“If he continues to bat like this, then we will certainly give him (No. 3 slot),” skipper Shubhman Gill said in half-jest during the post-match press conference on Thursday.

Dhurv Jurel offered India a technical detour in terms of tactical flexibility down the order. Originally a wicketkeeper-batter, Jurel now plays as a specialist batter at No. 6 behind Rishabh Pant.

Jurel has this envious ability to accelerate seamlessly from deep hibernation or calmly navigate through the rough seas.

In Galle, he made a quick 51 to build on Padikkal’s hundred and at the Sinhalese Sports Club, the 25-year-old first supported an aggressive Pant before moving on to get a hundred for himself.

Then there is this comfort factor against pacers and spinners alike. During his hundred in the second Test here, Jurel faced 101 balls from spinners and milked 56 runs.

The pacers tried to bounce out him but shelved that ploy after bowling just seven bumpers, as Jurel peeled 15 runs off those deliveries. Now, he is India’s chameleon at No. 6, shape-shifting as per conditions and situations.

“Dev and Dhruv have brought in a lot of solidity and a lot of confidence in our batting line-up, for sure. I always feel if you put up runs in Test matches, three and a half, four sessions, you’re always in the game.

“We’ve got bowlers that can make up 20 wickets. As long as we keep putting 350-400 runs consistently on the board, we’ll always be in the game. It’s very pleasing to see that we are doing that,” said Gill.

Similar to Jurel, left-arm spinner Suthar too understood the need to tweak his craft as per conditions.

At Galle, there was a bit of drift, bounce and turn for Suthar to exploit, resulting in a match-winning 10-wicket haul.

But the SSC offered all of it at a much slower pace and Suthar had to adapt. Across 63 tough overs, he grabbed six wickets in the drawn encounter.

At Galle, he bowled in the mid-80 speed range, but here he had to crank up another 10 kmph to get some purchase out of a dull track.

India’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule was satisfied with Suthar’s effort.

“It is an experience for Manav. This is his third Test. He’s going to get different situations. He knew they are going to charge at him. He’s a learning cricketer. What we like about him is his resilience. He always gives 100%,” said Bahutule.

Prasidh Krishna too offered a shard of positivity as he bowled with unrelenting pace and intensity across the four innings.

However, he also had to do the cover-up job for lead pacer Mohammad Siraj, who appeared to be bowling sans his usual verve and amassed just four wickets.

While Gill ruled out any injury scare for the Hyderabad pacer, Morne Morkel thought Siraj added a lot of value to the Indian bowling unit as its leader.

“He is a guy who will run in with a sore body all day. So for me in terms of having that attitude, having that leadership, showing the other guys how it is done is very important.

“He was trying to get some sort of energy from the surface. So for me, he is a key guy to our team and he is the leader. He is the guy that can break that potential larger partnerships when things are going tough,” Morkel, India’s bowling coach, noted.

But their effort in the last innings of the series would leave the Indian camp a disturbed lot, as an old failing resurfaced.

Sri Lankan batters survived nearly five sessions in their second innings to draw the Colombo Test. Off-spinner Saransh Jain on debut could hardly make an impact as there was no consistency in his lengths.

Jain’s inability to make a difference will lead to discussions about benching left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav after one underwhelming Test at Galle.

But the hiccups apart, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Gill will take this 1-0 series victory as it will cancel a lot of chatter surrounding the Test team for a while.